In spite of a fireworks ban within the Kenai Peninsula Borough and within the city of Homer, New Year’s Eve can be a noisy time. It also can be a frightening time for animals, as it proved to be for one Skyline horse.

When Milli Martin went out at 6 a.m. Jan. 1 to feed breakfast to her horse, Rebel, the animal was nowhere to be seen. Because moose had been hanging around Martin’s Skyline home, she waited until daylight to investigate and discovered Rebel had broken through a fence on the west side of the corral.

Martin began searching the area between her house and her neighbors’ house a half mile to the west. The neighbors have a horse and mule and Martin has visited there with Rebel in the past.

“But it was snowing,” said Martin, of difficulty finding tracks to follow. “That was the worst of it.”

As Martin was searching, a Skyline motorist stopped and informed her that Rebel had been seen on the road headed east about midnight.

On Wednesday, friends helped Martin search the area along the road, looking for signs of Rebel’s whereabouts. Today, she plans to continue the search with the help of Kachemak Nordic Ski Club trail groomers.

“They’re willing to go down the extensions off Skyline and see if they can see anything,” said Martin. “Those are areas I couldn’t get to yesterday.”

The borough’s ban on fireworks began in 1985. It is punishable by a fine of $500, unless a group has a permit issued by the borough mayor. An attempt in April to overturn the ban during the months of December-January was unanimously rejected by the borough assembly.

Rebel is a Morgan-Arab mix and copper red in color. He has a black tail and mane, a white blaze and one white hind foot. He’s about 30 years old, about 13 hands tall and weighs 900 pounds. Due to a lack of teeth, Rebel is unable to eat hay or grass, “therefore, time is getting critical,” said Martin.

Anyone with information about the horse’s whereabouts is asked to call Martin at 235-6652.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.